Douglas S. answered 12/03/25
10+ Years Experience Teaching History, Philosophy, and Writing (PhD)
If I've seen further, it was only by standing on the shoulders of giants. The idea here is about intellectual humility: Newton isn't claiming to be a great genius (though he was), but is instead being humble and saying he achieved what he did on the basis of the scientists (and philosophers) who came before him. It's their work that inspired his. Did you learn anything about Ghandi in class that is similar to that idea?